Dodgers NLDS: Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas return to the lineup in Game 1

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers have both Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas in the starting lineup for Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday against the Padres, both returning from injuries sustained in the final week of the regular season.

Freeman is batting in his usual third spot in the lineup, playing first base, nine days after spraining his right ankle in the divisional clincher at Dodger Stadium, also against the Padres. Although it wasn't safe on Saturday.

“A lot of treatment, a lot of time in the training room,” Freeman said Friday about his final week of rehab. “The swelling has gone down a lot, so I feel good. Good enough.”

About four hours before the game began, manager Dave Roberts said that Freeman was still undergoing treatment for his left ankle, which he suffered in the divisional win against the Padres at Dodger Stadium on September 26.

“We’re still in a wait-and-see mode,” Roberts said Saturday. “I’m still hopeful, maybe not as hopeful as I was yesterday.”

Freeman said Friday his mobility was limited, and Roberts said Saturday there were concerns about how to position Freeman given his limited reach.

Rojas is back at shortstop, batting ninth on Saturday, after struggling with leg problems for much of the final few months of the season. He left the Dodgers game on September 25 and an MRI showed a tear in his adductor muscle. Rojas received a cortisone shot on September 26 and plans to play through it, as he has for several weeks.

“I'm trying to calm down and be ready for what's really important, which is the playoffs,” Rojas said last week. “I've had days off here and there, but we're assuming that in the playoffs you'll only play three days in a row at most. Hopefully my ability to keep track and the medication injection will help.”

“We’re just where we’ve been with him all year. He hasn’t played 100 percent pretty much all year,” Roberts said Saturday. “I think that’s where he is right now. And we’re good with that.”

With Rojas at shortstop, that means Tommy Edman starting in center field, and the usual lineup for the Dodgers, particularly against right-handed pitchers, with Max Muncy at third base and Gavin Lux at second base. Had Freeman not started, Muncy would have played first base and Kiké Hernández would have played third base.

Since Muncy and Edman joined the roster on August 19, a week after Mookie Betts returned from his eight-week stint on the injured list, the Dodgers averaged 6.19 runs in the final 37 games of the regular season.